Helen Arias: Frederick Douglass

The passage I have chosen to do an analysis on is from page 242 in chapter 2 which states “Slaves sing most when they are most unhappy. The songs of the slave represent the sorrows of his heart; and he is relieved by them, only as an aching heart is relieved by its tears.”. From this, I understand that music was a way for slaves to express their feelings. Music is mostly associated with joy and happiness but for the slaves, it represented tears from their unhappy feelings. This goes to show that music was a way for slaves to tell their stories. Music represents who they were. Music was a very sensitive emotion and when singing Douglass speaks about the sorrow and sadness these slaves had such as when they sang about going to the Great Farmhouse. Going to the Great Farmhouse was considered a “privilege” and the slaves sang to express their feelings or sing about hope or inspiration, but this did not mean that their conditions weren’t harsh either. Douglass’s use of language draws focus to a crucial point he makes about slavery in his writing. It helps get his message across. Douglass uses language to talk about the hard things and experiences in his life and Douglass was able to show what really happened to slaves in the south and how bad the slaveholders were by the way he spoke. One thing that I question is where the slave owners ever heard the slaves singing with so much emotion and if that ever made them feel some sort of way. Listening to someone express their feelings is a very sympathetic situation. Slave owners were not nice at all but how is it possible to ignore someone singing with so much emotion? However, the slave owners took the emotional singing the wrong way. They never thought that a slave can be sad and desired a better life. The singing just goes to prove their sadness.